OCR A Level Computer Science

1.1.1e: Von Neumann, Harvard and contemporary processor architecture.

Keywords:
The characteristics of contemporary processors, input, output and storage devices
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KeywordDefinition
CISC (Complex InStruction Set)A type of CPU design that aims to speed up performance by supporting a large number of specialised instructions.
Contemporary ArchitectureModern additions to CPU design which can improve performance or security
DataValues which can be stored in variables or constants when a program runs.
HarvardA type of processor architecture where instructions and data are stored in separate address spaces both with separate address busses and data busses.
InstructionsProgram code that can be executed when a program runs.
MMX (MultiMedia eXtensions)An example of contemporary CPU architecture where complex calculations that are frequently used in encoding / decoding multimedia data (e.g. JPG images) can be performed using single specialised instructions.
Processor architectureA type of processor design which specifies how the CPU is connected to the immediate access store.
RISC (Reduced InStruction Set)A type of CPU design that aims to simplify the structure of the ALU, CU and by only supporting a basic instruction set in order to reduce power consumption and cost per core.
SIMD (Single Instruction Multiple Data)An example of contemporary CPU architecture where one instruction performs the same operation on data in multiple locations at the same time
Von NeumannA type of processor architecture where data and instructions are stored in the same address space so there's only one data bus and one address bus.
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